It’s Dave here, writing my own blog for a change after 10 days of being a little pre-occupied! Thanks to you all for the support and encouragement–it really helped to catch a glimpse of your comments when the going got tough. It really was a hard race. It’s strange, but I can hardly remember the swim now (old age I know), it just seems so long ago, but at the time it was never ending. The water was so hot that I swam with ice cubes in my swim cap and my face swelled up so much that the goggles dug into my face even though I continually loosened them. The sores on my face lasted over a week. The bike was then so gruelling as Christian and I had a sleep deprivation battle. After 5 days of racing I had only slept 11 hours in total. As a competition for victory, it ended at 4 or 5 marathons when I had ankle problems, blister problems and stomach problems. Christian was able to gradually pull away and had a fantastic race. One of the best moments was when one day we called a truce and had an ice cream whilst walking a lap—then we went back to trying to pummel each other into submission. I have a lot of repect for him -he’s a really nice guy and it was great that his wife Valerie helped me so much during the last 36 hours of my race. Completing the run and maintaining 2nd place really was a hard hard time and was when I kept thinking of you all willing me on. The website has had 5000 hits which is amazing.

Anyway, major thanks to John — a fantastic photographer who kept you all entertained with his witty and perceptive updates. An event like this really has to be a team effort. If any of you ever need a professional photographer, you know where to come. Our story will be appearing in 220 magazine in their next edition — words and pics by John. They employed him for the story – so that was on top of all his other work here. Click here to go to John’s homepage.

My other big thanks are to Joanna. She received all the blogs and photos from John and organised everything onto the site. She did a wonderful job. Again, if any of you are impressed with her work (and I know you must be) and would like to use her services, you know where to ask. She is very talented at web design and media coverage. She’s also an exceptional freelance writer, as you will see if you read the account in the November Edition of Running Fitness magazine of the Europe 135 race that I did with Alex Flynn. There is a link to Joanna’s great website on my homepage.

I must also remind you that I was doing the race in support of my friend Alex Flynn and the Cure Parkinson´s foundation. It would be great if you could click on 10 Million metres and make a contribution, no matter how small. Alex has followed the race avidly and spread news of progress constantly via Facebook and other means. Next year I am hoping to support him in running from Marble Arch to Rome (nearly 1500 miles!!).

And Brian, it was an honour to cross the line in Howard´s shirt — I know how much that meant to some people. You better stick to your word of what you said yesterday…..

Tricia LLoyd also helped me when the going got tough. We had been working on visualisation techniques and these really helped when the pain was at its worst. Tricia is an excellent counsellor on all kinds of issues — see her link on the homepage to Altrincham counselling.

After the race (I finished at 8am) I fell asleep until mid afternoon. In the evening I ate 4 meals !!! Maybe the body was telling me something. My hands and feet have returned to normal size (I’d loosened my watch by 8 notches so that it would fit). The medics think the swelling may be down to a sodium imbalance, causing the body to hold excess fluid in the hands and feet (I did the run in size 10´s and even these were too small by the end.) Today I feel fine apart from the 20 or so blisters !!

We came down this morning to welcome Roger Lehmann into the finish. I got to know Roger really well during the race– he’s another really good bloke – we had lots of good chats on the bike and run. His wife Melissa was here today to share the emotion of his finish. Next home will be King Wayne Kurtz, with whom I´ve discussed some possible future ventures in the world of long distance training and racing.

And hey folks — guess what ? There may well be a Deca in Sicily next Autumn – It´s just a proposal at the moment –I´m sure some of you might fancy a break in the warm Sicilian Autumn sunshine !!

If I’ve forgotten anything I will write again soon. Presentations are on Sunday and we fly home Monday/Tuesday.

7 Comments for this entry

Dave – glad to hear you are recovering well already. Enjoy the rest of your time in Mexico. Looking forward to hearing all about it whilst out training. Mike mentioned you in his local newspaper column this week – your fame is spreading.

Hi Dave, really good to hear that you’re OK bar severe calorie deficit and sleep deprivation! You sound in very good spirits – and so you should be. Obviously thousands of miles away we cannot fully appreciate the mental, physical and tactical battles that you waged but your positive round-up is great to hear. Looking forward to getting more info first-hand from you on your return. For now, enjoy some R & R and of course the Presentation which is richly deserved.